Destiny
by LSgrimm91
Summary: Samantha would be the only one able to save scully. Scully was destined to save Mulder. Would you make a deal with god to save someone you were never destined to meet, even if the cost was those in your heart?
1. Disturbed

**DISCLAIMER: I owneth it not. Please sueth me not also. **

**STORY SUMMARY: Scully was born lacking life and only the death of Samantha can save her. Scully makes a deal with the highest powers: save Mulder and be redeemed. The cost will be great, but if it is her destiny, can she sacrifice her family to save the boy she has never met? **

**CHAPTER SUMMARY: Before the disappearance of Samantha, Dana scully was not as we know her. A disturbed, internal and somewhat incomplete child. She strolls through life unaffected, with her only companion; Bill, at her side. It is one night, when Dana is 8 years old; a tragic accident changes not only her world, but that of so many others. (ok, first 3 chapters summary)**

**A/NOTES: I love these pre-X files stories; they are such a challenge to connect to the series! This story isn't actually long, it just has a lot of short chapter. They are so much easier to update. Yes, it may be hard to imagine scully this way in the first three chapters, but give it a shot. pleez Reevoo :)**

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_July 5__th__, 1967  
__Scully residence  
__Silver spring, Maryland_

"Dana?"

I climbed up the long staircase to the upstairs part of the house. I liked to crawl up the stairs because it was faster, but it was Sunday and mum won't let me do it in my church clothes. It was a little bit dark upstairs, but I'm not scared of the dark and it's not that bad anyway. Mum sent me to get Dana; she's my little sister. She's 3 and I'm 6. I always look after her because daddy told me I had to when he was away. He said I was the man of the house and had to look after his girls.

"Dana? We gotta go to church!" I yell.

I go down the hall to her room and push the door open with both hands. Found her. She's sitting on her window sill again. She knows she's not allowed to climb on her window sill, but she does all the time to look outside at stuff. She's really little for a 3 year old. I don't know how she gets up there any way. I go over to her. She's stares a lot. Mum doesn't like her stare because her eyes are really dark; kind of black. I think it looks cool with her red hair.

"Come on. You gotta hold on tight."

She sticks her arms out at me, squeezing hard and I grab her around her tummy. I help her get down but she's getting really heavy. She holds my hand and we go down the stairs. I'm not afraid of the dark, but Dana isn't afraid of anything.

This one time we were outside near the forest down the back of our house. She was watching me climb some logs, I think. Anyway, this huge black and brown dog comes along, and it was growling at us. It was barking and everything; then it started coming closer. I nearly ran away, but Dana just walks straight over to it! I told her not to, but she did. Then the dog stopped growling and it went backwards and then it ran away. It was really weird. Another time, we all went to a zoo and the animals kept on running crazy when we went past. I knew it was because of Dana. I dunno why though.

We get downstairs and mum is waiting at the front door for us. She smiles at us, more at me, because Dana doesn't smile back. Not even at me. But she knows I look after her.

"Come on you two." She opened up the door for us.

Dana doesn't like to talk much. She does to me sometimes, when it's just us. I always talk to her because she only ever talks back to me. I like my sister: she's weird.

We go outside and walk together down the pathway; we're still holding hands. I think Dana holds my hand because she knows that sometimes, things do scare me. She's weird because she knows when I get scared of things, even when I don't tell her. That's the only thing that scares me about my little sister: Dana.

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I must admit I was unduly uncomfortable with the way father Rossiter watch Dana in the church. He would tell anyone he looked after the children in the community, but with Dana, he chose more to monitor than care for. Dana always stayed by my side, or at the very least, with Bill Jr.

Her baptism was vivid in my mind every time we arrived on Sunday mornings. The recollection sent a shiver down my spine.

_I was never one for large audiences. I preferred to listen than to preach. As with all the children's baptisms, Dana's was a small private event with only our closest friends and relatives. It was a special occasion I only liked to share with special people. _

_Father Rossiter's countenance worried me. He genuinely looked disturbed to be in the room with Dana. He hesitated many times and I had begun to grow frustrated._

"_Father? Is there anything wrong? Have you forgotten something?" I whispered to him. Dana sat silently in my arms. I swore she was looking up at the stained glass windows in curiosity. _

"_n-no. I think I may be ill. I'm not... I can't, can't explain it." He stuttered to her in a whisper to me._

"_You're doing fine father. If you need, you can skip any of the unnecessary bits." I offered._

"_No. Dana cannot miss any part of this." He sounded ardent in his claim. Like it was a matter of life and death. _

Father Rossiter's health deteriorated as the ceremony progressed. What disturbed me was how Dana and father Rossiter interacted. He was hesitant to go near her. She looked him in the eyes and probably straight through him. William and I found her blackish eyes different, and at times intimidating.

I guess Dana had the latter effect on father Rossiter as well.

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**Yes? No? I discovered that shorter chapters = frequent(er) updates. WOOT, *pats own head* **


	2. Playing

**DISCLAIMER: I owneth it not. Please sueth me not also. **

**STORY SUMMARY: Scully was born lacking life and only the death of Samantha can save her. Scully makes a deal with the highest powers: save Mulder and be redeemed. The cost will be great, but if it is her destiny, can she sacrifice her family to save the boy she has never met? **

**A/NOTE: this is a bit too short for my liking. Ah well. Still fun to write. I made three chapters out of one, so I can update nice and fast. WOO!!**

_August 9__th__, 1970_

_Silver Spring elementary school, Maryland_

Bill always knew where to find his sister at school; under the pine tree on the corner of the sporting field. She was there with her bag and watching the other children play. During his first few weeks of school, the teachers were very worried she would be harassed for sitting alone so often. The staff walking around the grounds during recess and lunch where often surprised at how much she was left alone. One case that concerned the faculty further was an instance when a ball had been kicked under the tree and stopped near Dana. The staff members were startled when some of the children came up to ask a teacher to retrieve the ball. No one had asked Dana to throw it back, and no one went to get it.

In the classroom Dana was more beyond the conventional definition of shy. To counter act this lack of socialisation, any of her teachers would profess that she was compliant and well behaved; more importantly, she was bright. She was pushed up a grade from first to second. The teachers never called upon her for a verbal answer. She always had the answers written down. They knew from kindergarten that she didn't talk to anyone, except on the rare occasion when she spoke to her brother. If it wasn't for Bill, many experts would consider Dana mute. Because she kept to herself so much, none of her peers knew how bright she really was.

It was a Monday morning when bill went over to check on his sister under the pine tree.

"Did you eat all of your recess?" he asked as he sat down on his knees in front of Dana. She nodded slowly that she had. His eyes furrowed for a moment. He tilted his head as if to say 'um'.

Bill was almost nine now and Dana was six years old. Every day, at some point or another, Bill came over to check on his baby sister.

"What have you got after recess?"

She looked straight at him; as of late, her stare had begun to make him uneasy.

"Science."

"That's good. You like science don't ya?"

She nodded again. Not always to that format, but always to that length.

That was usually the extent of the conversation.

"Okay then." Bill put a hand on top of her fiery hair. "I'll meet you here at the end of the day." She watched him as he stood up, and then nodded.

She never looked like the sad and lonely type. She was more of an observer; her perspective of reality was very different to that of any normal child. Bill left his sister under the tree. He did not check up on her out of obligation, he did it out of love.

Dana continued to watch Bill as he walked back to his friends. He fussed about her so very much. It didn't faze that her much; it was interesting to see to what extent he would go to entertain his emotions.

"Strange..."

**Short sharp and oh so easy to update. I love it. I do this story in my English studies class. Golden.**


	3. falling further

**DISCLAIMER: I owneth this not. Please sueth me not also. **

**STORY SUMMARY: Scully was born lacking life and only the death of Samantha can save her. Scully makes a deal with the highest powers: save Mulder and be redeemed. The cost will be great, but if it is her destiny, can she sacrifice her family to save the boy she has never met? **

**A/NOTE: So scully is fallen. Okay, so fallen may be the wrong word. Try 'born to earth empty'? that'll do. And she will be saved. Yeh, it's a metaphor and foreshadowing. English studies taught me some useful words.**

***try reading this chapter as fast as you can...**

_8:32pm_

_November 22__nd__, 1973_

_Scully residence, Silver springs, Maryland_

"Far out, where is she?" Bill asked himself. He walked down the trail that led through the forest and down over the river that was down the hill from their house. The moon was a few nights short of full, not that it mattered, the overhead cover made the forest pitch black. With his flashlight in his hand, his other grasping at the front of his jacket to keep the cold out, Bill searched through the forest.

He had seen Dana an hour or so earlier walking down towards the trail. He hadn't thought too much of it at the time, though now he wished he had. The family became worried when the sun had gone down and she hadn't returned. He was surprised to hear the sounds of the river rushing ahead of him. It meant he was nearly half a mile away from the house. He didn't expect she had gone this far from the house. He was ready to turn back but knew he would regret not checking the other side of the bridge, just in case.

"Dana!" he yelled out loudly. He was twelve years old and wasn't far off of puberty. He had started to grow tall and was beginning to dwarf his siblings. His voice was getting deeper and he had begun to sound more like his father.

He scoffed and ran his sweaty hands through his hair. The sounds of the river increased and the glow of the moonlight shone through at the end of the trail. He could see the corner of the bridge at the water's edge. The light from the moon was bright enough for him to see without the aid of the flashlight and he turned it off.

He found her.

The bridge was arched and at its highest point it was 3 meters above the surface of the water. The shallow river water flowed quickly and the bed was very rocky. As kids they had always been told to stay away from it. The wooden boards that lined the old monument needed replacing a long time ago.

Dana sat on the metal railing of the bridge; her legs swinging over the side in circles. Her hands were planted on the rail at her side as she looked straight up at the sky. She looked in fascination at the stars above; undeterred by the wind and the cold bite.

"Dana? What are you doing?"

He took one step towards her, and her head snapped quickly towards him; a hardened and ice cold look plastered across her face. He pulled that foot backwards to where it was. Her eyes were black and in the moonlight they offered an eerie insight into the abyss.

"Dana, you gotta..." he trailed of as she stared at him; she tilted her head, silently daring him to continue. He stuttered to start again.

"You... you gotta come back home. Everyone was getting worried. It's dangerous out here at night Dana!" he called to her with undue desperation.

Her face softened and for a moment, she looked sympathetic. He took this as a cue to come forward. He had gotten very good at reading his sister over the years. He could tell which way she would go, the ways she did things and to a certain extent: how her mind worked; though not even he could profess to _understand_.

She slid down the outside of the rail to stand on the side.

"Come on..." he reiterated.

She went to swing her leg up and back over the rail. With one leg in the air, her other foot slipped and she dropped straight down.

"BILL!" she squealed aloud. Her cry to her brother ended as the sound of her body collided with the rushing water underneath.

He watched in a shocked silence as his sister fell and hit the rushing water under the bridge before his eyes. He didn't feel the flashlight fall out of his hand as he began running down the river.

"Dana? Dana!" He called to the river.

He was frantic, he couldn't see her and the seconds ticked by as he ran alongside the flow of the current. He stumbled on something and got up quickly. His hands had leaf litter and mud splayed across them and his forehead ran with sweat and dirt.

"DANA!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

He saw a flash of white emerge from the water for a second; that was all he needed to run straight into the water ahead of the object. He kicked all the water in his path and ran with the current until he was waist high.

He spun and looked and felt around for anything. Anything that was part of her.

He felt a piece of fabric brush his arm and he fumbled to grab hold of it under the water. He felt it slide between his fingers and he clenched his fist. Did he get it? He put his other hand over the top and felt more fabric. He ran back to the edge as fast as he could run in the opposing water, dragging a heavy weight behind him.

Dana's body floated up to the surface. Bill grabbed her around the waist and locked his arms in place. He ran awkwardly onto the bank, falling down when they were away from the water.

She wasn't conscious.

"Dana? Come Dana, wake up!"

He pushed her hair out of her face a few times. Her face was colder than the air surrounding them. Parts of her face got darker in the moonlight... and warm... and sticky. Blood. He held her head in his arm and frantically looked for the wound on her head. He gave up and wrapped her small, limp body up in his. The wind felt so cold but his blood was so full of adrenaline his skin was on fire. He had no idea what was going on. He looked around.

"SOMEBODY!" he tried. The cold air burned his throat.

"SOMEBODY HELP!" he cried out like a wounded animal into the night skies. Nearly half a mile away, someone could have easily heard him.

**Damn, I can't write dramatic and frantic. But that's the idea anyway.**


	4. Withdrawal

**DISCLAIMER: I owneth them not, please sueth me not also.**

**CHAPTER SUMMARY: elsewhere, Mulder witnesses the abduction of his sister. How does he handle it, what happened to Samantha, and how is she connected to scully?**

**A/note: another REALLY short one, avoiding the alien abduction arc. Running with the murdered concept. Due to series inconsistencies, I'm going to skip the abduction scene. Erm... oh yeh, I put the dates in, because even I got confused with the timeline, so you gotta watch them. THIS CHAPTER IS THE MOST INSANE THING I EVER WROTE! You'll see why. Happy reading!**

**Most of this is the voice in Mulder's head going spazz immediately after Sam's abduction. So just picture him on the floor staring into space and you are in his head. Mulder's brain is so cruel to him...**

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_8:32pm  
__November 22__nd__, 1973  
__Mulder residence, Chilmark, Massachusetts_

'Holy shit.'

'Sam was right. I did lose it.

"Sam?"I whisper.

'I lost her. No I didn't. She was taken.'

'Who took her? How was she taken?'

I blink consciously and finally stop looking out at the window and down at the Stratego board in front of me. My brain's not with it. I have no idea what is going on with that board. After a shaky attempt, I find my legs. They're there, I just can't feel them. I walk outside and look left, right and then left again.

There's nothing outside. No cars and no people.

It hits me. Sam is gone; she was taken.

'Taken by whom?'

"I DON'T KNOW!" I yell out at the question. I'm scared. I notice that my heart is pounding in my chest and it hurts like a bastard.

'Where did she go?'

I look around again. No change in the scenery. I look up.

'Maybe she was _taken_'

I think I see a star shoot out of the corner of my eye. Maybe she was taken.

'I'm not even upset.'

"Of course I'm upset!'' I yell back.

It's true. I'm not even crying. Why aren't I crying? I still don't know what just happened. I dropped my head and start sniffing. That led to crying. I know what I saw. What I saw wasn't real. I'm lying to myself.

'Sure I was. I know exactly what happened to her. I knew and didn't help her. What kind of brother am I?'

I clap my hands over my ears. Shut up! Shut up!

'I couldn't move. I didn't care. I still don't!'

I tuck my chin into my chest and grit my teeth. Stop it! I know! It's not my fault though! She was taken from me. Tears are running in the creases on my face. I clench my fists into my hair, and screw my eyes closed. I'm feeling hot in the two t-shirts I'm wearing. I can hear the blood rushing in my ears and there's a storm brewing.

I breathe quickly and heavily through my clenched teeth.

She was taken. She was taken. She was taken.

'By aliens perhaps?'

"Yes! It was them!" I grind through my teeth.

My jaw snaps open and I cry aloud.

I can't... I, I can't breathe. I breathe out... but, but pulling sufficient air back in is... it's near impossible.

As my crying intensifies, my body becomes exhausted. I lean forwards and bend my knees till I'm close to the ground. I let myself fall down. The ground is cold and gritty.

I don't care. Maybe something will take me too. I hope it does. I'll find Samantha. My pare-

Oh shit. Mum and dad will ask so many questions. I don't know the answers!

I pull my knees up until I can feel pressure on my stomach. I'm being squashed. How small can I make myself? Maybe when they come home they'll trip over me.

I close my eyes. My mind is blank. I can't see anything in my mind's eye.

'You'll never find her.' The voice mocked him.

I open my eyes; just a little bit.

"Yes I will." He sobbed.

'Good luck with that.'

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**Wow, that was crazy to write ('scuse the pun) I didn't want Mulder to go psycho. I wanted him to crawl inside himself and rock back and forth.**


	5. Limbo

**DISCLAIMER: I owneth this not. Please sueth me not also.**

**SUMMARY: Scully suffers heavy trauma. For an instance, she dies. *gasp* but, scully is made an offer she truly cannot refuse. Return to save Mulder, or die. **

**A/NOTE: Would I kill scully permanently? Certainly not. Learnt that from 2012. Being not overly religious (apart from X-Filism) please excuse the lack of detail in scully's deal offering. It's not really a deal, now that I think about it. I think anyone would do the same thing as scully in her position *ponders* having no idea what limbo looks like, here is my lantern of an interpretation.**

**Anyhoo. Enjoy :) Thank you soooooooooo much for the reviews too! MWAH!**

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_02:23am  
November 23, 1973  
Silver springs hospital, Maryland_

I can hear noise around me. Frightened noises. People are moving around me; I feel them. Voices saying things like 'her pressure's dropping' and 'she's still bleeding' and other frantic things.

My face hurts; especially around my nose and eyes. A lot of other parts hurt too.

The voices get louder, then slowly get quieter; thank god. I thought they would never shut up. God, it's so quiet I can pretty much hear myself breathe. Actually, I can't even hear myself breathe; maybe I've gone deaf. I must have gone deaf. I can't even hear my own heart beat.

I must be blind too; I can't see a darn thing. It's not like having your eyes closed, because even then there is an orange-red colour behind your eye lids. This was darker. This was like a deep cave inside my head.

I've had enough of this. I open my eyes.

'Ow!' gosh it's bright out there. I can't see a thing; it's all white.

'_Well that wasn't smart.'_ I hear. Sounds like Bill. At least I think it does. I can't remember what Bill's voice sounds like.

"_Believe me; you are in the safest place imaginable."_

"And where is that?"

"_The in between. 'Limbo', if you will. Neither up nor down. For you, Dana Scully, your fate has yet to be determined. It is up to you where you go from here."_

I say nothing.

"_You were born to the love of your parents. Not only that, but you were born 'incomplete', for lack of a better word you would understand."_

Again I say nothing. My curiosity at the moment is immeasurably great, but I would rather not interrupt him with questions. I know I'm dead. Don't ask me how I know. I just do.

"_You have a choice Dana. Your life will be given a purpose. All things being balanced, the rewards you will receive will come at a price."_

"What will be my purpose?" I ask.

"_Open your eyes."_

I do. It's still bright. But it doesn't hurt my eyes. There is no one here.

"_Great passion is worth fighting for. Should you return to those who love you, you must dedicate yourself to saving a boy. The strength of his beliefs is greater than any object you value."_

"What's his name?"

"_He will stand out in your mind." _

"What's his name?" I ask in frustration.

"_There is no value in a name Dana."_

"Right. So to return, all I have to do is find this boy... It can't be that simple. There has to be more to it."

"_You are missing some of the most vital parts of human existence Dana. Should you return, you will be restored completely. You will be guided to him. He has lost a part of himself."_

"That's it? He's lost and I have to find him?"

"_Everyone is judged before moving on. In your life you will lose those close to you. It is because you will follow him. To the edge of death. "_

What choice do I have? I don't want to stay here.

"I'll do it."

As if I had closed my eyes again, the world around is thrown into darkness. I can't see anything except black. I hear nothing. I can't move; I can't even feel any part of my body to move.

There is a sound. A solid thumping in my head. It's like a pulsating 'womp' sound. It's a bit jumpy at first and then is gets louder and more consistent. I think I can feel my arm and legs. Thank god. Now I hurt all over. My face stings and I have the biggest pain ever invented and administered. The pain gets worse and worse. I'm about ready to scream for Bill, I swear!

I'm feeling sleepy. I never felt so glad to be this tired. If I sleep, I won't feel the pain.

Very soon, I let myself sleep.

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**Peace and love philers!! That took a long time to right. :/ still not that good. My apologies. Next chapter will be more insightful. XOXOX**


	6. Doctor Charlie

**DISCLAIMER: I owneth these not, please sueth me not also.**

**SUMMARY: Scully wakes up in hospital. Things have changed for her now. So here is the beginning of the Dana scully we know and love.**

**A/NOTE: I liked Dr. Schrapel (ch. 20 lab partners) so I brought her back. She has a nice human quality which will be excellent for scully at this stage. **

**LITTLE ADD ON- please excuse my sneezing, I have a cold in the Australian summer. Yes, it's sooo wrong. and forgive my lateness, I was having issues with writing 7 Day Inquiry. Okay, not summer now, but still!**

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_10:13am_

_November 28, 1973_

_Silver springs hospital, Maryland_

"Knock knock? Hello Charlie. How are you today?" Dr Schrapel asked me.

I'm sitting next to Dana under the blankets. We watch TV in the mornings, well I do at least. Dana has been sleeping since her accident. The doctors made her sleep because she got hurt really bad.

"Good. Mum will be back soon, she had to go get dad." I pull the blankets up around me and Dana.

"That's right; your dad is coming back from sea today. Well, I'm going to be taking the bandages off of Dana's head this morning." She put a shiny steel bowl and her clipboard on the end of the bed below our feet. The bowl looked like a jelly bean, I thought it was funny. I wanted one to eat my cereal out of.

"Are you taking her stitches out?"

"Not today. We need get some air onto them to help them heal." She walked around to the other side of our bed and pulled on her blue gloves. She pulled out a third and offered it to me.

"Be my helper?"

I liked watching Dr Schrapel. She has red hair like me and Dana. I always wanted to help.

"Okay then." I put on the glove that's too big for me.

"Alright Doctor Charlie, first, the bandages come off. Can you hold onto this for me?" she gives me the steel bowl. I hold it on the ends.

"Now," she started unwrapping. "Once we finish this, you can help me check her pupils."

"What's a pupil?" I wonder.

"Well, it's the colour in your eyes. When I shine a light on it, it will get smaller, and when I take the light away it will get bigger. Your eyes are brown. What colour are mine?" I sit up straight and look.

"Green."

Dr Schrapel nodded. She scrunched up some of the bandages and popped them into my jelly bean bowl.

She checked on Dana's stitches. I wish I had stitches. But Dr Schrapel says they aren't fun.

"Righty oh. Let's get these out of the way." I gave her the jelly bean bowl and she put it back at the end of the bed.

Dana's face was red all over and purple around her eyes. She had little stitches everywhere.

"Okie dokie Doctor Charlie. I'm going to open one of her eyes and shine the light on it. You tell me what happens."

"Kay." I sit up in bed and lean over Dana.

When she wakes up I'll tell her I helped. Mum said when I'm here, it helps Dana get better. I make sure she doesn't get lonely.

Dr schrapel opened one of Dana's eyes.

"Whoa..." I never saw that before.

"That... sounds like a good answer." We keep looking.

I always wanted eyes like Dana's. Black and all. They were cool. Me and Dr Schrapel keep looking really hard. Dana has brown eyes now. Really brown, like some of the rocks missy keeps in her room. The shiny smooth ones.

"Now that is very odd..."

"Why are they brown?" they aren't supposed to be brown.

"Well, when you get hurt around your eyes, and you go blind, sometimes your eyes change colour. This is a special case I think." She said. She picked up her clipboard and wrote stuff down. She writes really fast.

"How long will your mum be Charlie?"

I shrug.

"She said not very long."

"Okay. When she gets here, you can tell her about Dana's brown eyes, and then tell her to come find me. Okay?"

I nod.

She pulls her gloves off and they go snap! I take mine off too. It didn't snap as loud. She picked up the jelly bean bowl and I put my glove in there too.

"You're doing a good job Doctor Charlie." She said as she walked out our room.

"Thanks!" I yell out to her. I get back under the blankets and make sure Dana is covered.

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**No medical flames. The closest thing to a medical degree I have is stage 2 Biology. But constructive criticism and reviews are welcome. First day of autumn, yay! (AKA fall.) I miss summer :( **


	7. Metallic Red Head

**DISCLAIMER: I'm still a student; would any money be made by suing me for this? No.**

**SUMMARY: scully continues to grow and develop. The family moves into a new neighbourhood, where scully is greeted by someone who may be one of her first best friends. **

**A/NOTE: no, it's not Mulder. I like scott. S'kay, no competition for Mulder. Not that this story goes down that path. You'll see :)**

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It was early morning when Scott staggered out the front door to investigate the commotion coming from next door. A bowl of corn flakes in his hands and clad only in a white singlet and dark denim shorts; he pushed a pair of sunnies into the scruffy brown hair atop his head.

Stuffing another spoonful of cereal into his mouth, he trudged down the driveway and looked down the street. Against the curb of his neighbours house was a large removals truck.

'New people.' He thought.

Swallowing the milky mush in his mouth, he took to the pathway and wandered over next door to meet his new neighbours.

The first person to spot him was the eldest of the Scully clan. Bill met the young man on the front lawn. Scott threw his spoon in his cereal with a metallic 'tink' and shook the man's hand.

"How ya doin'? Scott Carle." He introduced

"Good thanks. I'm William scully." The man returned. He looked like the kind of guy you don't cross.

"What brings you to this part o' the world?"

"Early retirement hopefully. I've been in the Navy for a pretty long time."

"Ah. Did you want a hand or something?"

"Well, I'll find the girls and let you meet them, and then you can give Bill a hand with the furniture."

"Sounds good. I'll get rid of my bowl and see if my dad wants to come out too. I reckon some shoes'd be a good idea too."

The simply nodded, smiled and walked into his new house. Scott quickly made his way back into his kitchen, practically throwing the empty bowl into the sink. He bounded up the staircase, skipping two or three steps at a time. On his way to his room, he popped his head into his father's room. The man lay face down on the bed; dead to the world.

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I must admit, I think I got the best room in the house, and I love it all the more as it's actually mine and I don't have to share with Melissa. After the accident, Melissa and I have been stuck in the same room. I think it's just mum and dad being paranoid. It gave us the chance to get closer though. Melissa pretty much told Bill it would be a good idea for him to stop checking up on me. He took it pretty hard.

The only thing that ruins the view is this massive tree branch right outside my window. We'll need to get rid of it eventually.

I leave the comfort of my new bedroom to go find some of the boxes with my name on them, and lug them all them all the way up here... ugh god. Too much effort.

I swing my leg over the mahogany railing of the staircase and slide right on down. I practically fell off the end. I can't wait to do it again. In a brilliant display of lack of grace and elegance I stumble whilst getting off the railing.

"Well done."

I hear a snort behind me. I turn around to glare at my offender and come face to face with a stranger carrying one of my boxes. I'm taken aback enough to squeak in surprise. He suppresses another snort. I scowl. He feigns fear. We laugh at the same time.

He balances a box on one arm and comes forth, hand outstretched to shake mine.

"Scott Carle. I'm ya new neighbour."

"Dana scully. How'd you get into my house?"

"He offered to give us a hand starbuck." I hear from behind me. Dad weaves around us with a dining chair in each hand. We step back to avoid getting bumped.

"ah huh. Well, I'll show you where that box goes."

He grins and follows me up the stairs. He spent the whole day here, but he proved to be incredibly helpful. We had everything done by sunset.

----------

"Where you been all day?"

First question I get as soon as I walk through the door. Tread lightly. He's at the dining table with a beer and a newspaper.

His father never mentioned Scott's mother. It had always been the two of them. Scott was so used to the company an conversation of adults. He was highly academic and lacking in social skills. His father was like the bossy roommate. Luckily his father had enough sense about only children to encourage Scott to talk to people his own age, especially girls, given it was a boys house.

"I was next door. Helping the new people move in. They're nice people."

Dad's interest was obvious. He closed the paper pushed it away from him.

"Family?"

"Yeh."

"Kids? Might get you outta your room once in a while."

"Four. The dad is a navy captain."

Dad's eyes squinted. He finished the last of his beer. I continued anyway.

"There's Bill, the oldest brother, he seems bit aggro. There's one girl," I had to grin at the thought. "Who's kind of weird, but cool. She's going to go to my school. Heck, I reckon I got a few classes with her."

Dad got up and threw his empty bottle into the trash.

"Keep talking; I'm still listening. You had anything' to eat?"

It was easier to talk to him when I can pretend he's not listening.

"Uh, some pizza for lunch."

I follow him into the kitchen and jump up onto the counter.

"She's a red head; you'd spot her from a mile. Big green eyes like an avocado and enough metal in her mouth to set off a dozen airport detectors."

Dad chuckled from inside the fridge.

"Right. You said there was four of em'?"

"Um, there's Charlie, the youngest one. Hyperactive he is. And the other one, crap I can't remember her name... Melissa, that's it. Freakin' hippy that one. She practically fell outta that tree in the front yard."

"All these people got a last name?"

"Scully."

"What about the metallic red head?"

"Dana. Dana scully." I grin.

----------

**:) Next chapter is a Mulder update, then after that, Mulder and scully meet! :D**


	8. Just watch me

**Disclaimer: I advise any disgruntled readers who own the X Files that it would be financially stupid to attempt to sue me for writing. Here, have the 50 cents in my pocket.**

**Summary: after the abduction of Samantha, Mulder spends parts of the next few years in an out of rehabilitation facilities and sanatorium's as a result of his erratic behaviour.**

**A/note: contrary to popular belief, I'm not an expert of the subject of mental instability. I will do my best to express some Mulder mental rambling as he finally shifts from the reality off his mind, to the outside.**

Nothing much happened today. I tried to kill myself again. And it rained.

I'm tired of the indiscernible yet horrifying images that invade my mind when I finally surrender myself to the allure of sleep. I do everything to not sleep. The attraction to that reality is founded upon the punishment I receive. It's a sickening relief. My mind slashing its own wrists to numb the pain of this world and crying in strained ecstasy in its success.

God. What have I become?

At my window I watch the water succumb to the grasp of gravity and fall, taking other, smaller droplets with it. The rain on the roof is like the static of thousands of voices, screaming until I can hear them no more. I stare.

My name is Fox William Mulder. I am solely responsible for the loss of my sister, whom, by the laws of nature and society I was bound to protect.

I have been admitted to several institutions. I am the subject of failure amongst countless psychologists, therapists and councillors. I am the one they consider "beyond reach." So they leave me be and simply observe a depressing phenomenon.

Finally the distorted symphony of water reaches an end and I can hear the silence. I suppose you're wondering how I tried to kill myself. A well executed combination of sleep deprivation, starvation, and a stash of expired medication taking in one colossal gulp.

The execution... was nonexistent. They are still in my sock.

The world around me is unclear. I see it through a dirty glass. It's time to walk through it again.

I stand up, remembering the floor beneath my feet, and walk out of my room. With no consideration of time or presence; I find the garden. It would be considered beautiful. I bitterly consider it fortunate. The sun peaks out, brightening the sickly sweet environment.

There. I see it. The stone bench.

It lacks life. The monochromatic block of ice floating in the sea of vibrant colour and life. I go to it. On it I lay, as I so often do. There is warmth that flows over me though I am void of any warmth inside.

For but a moment, I can feel the sun touch my skin... and the lustful bliss it brings with it.

The gold under my lids goes black, and I'm surprised at my yearning for its return. I can hear the grass beneath my head crumbling and the steady breath of my visitor lingering over my head. When I open my eyes, I am blinded in light and darkness and a silhouette threatens to fall upon me. The light seeps through her head and begins to define her features.

And she was beautiful.

**I found my muse :) I'm back.**


	9. Boontah

**Disclaimer: don't sue me. You won't get anywhere.**

**Summary: scully gets some work experience with Dr Schrapel, and has a disturbing encounter with a patient during their visit to the state juvenile sanatorium. **

**A/note: wow, iam horrendously unreliable with my updates :s my apologies; I'm a slow writer. Mulder and scully meet! X^D ah yes, To one of my wonderful readers who I am very sorry to have confuzzled, scott Carle is a standalone character who becomes one of scully's first best friends during her youth. Also everyone, forgive my aussieisms :p**

_4:08pm_

_friday_

It was beautifully sunny with a cooling breeze that that pricked every part of Scott's skin. He sat on a railing of the stairs leading to the main doors of the high school. He was bored enough to begin counting traffic, and plucking different notes on his guitar with each passing vehicle. The doors behind him opened and out pranced Dana, carrying her well customised diary.

"Get your extension?"

"Yeah, he's given me till Monday. Thank god, I haven't even started it yet. I hate prac reports, far out. When am I going to ever know how to write a report in the immediate future?" She balanced her pack on the railing next to Scott and thrust her diary into the already bursting bag. "I'll do it Sunday. I'm doing some work experience down at the hospital all day tomorrow. Schrapel and I are swinging down to a sanatorium too." she dropped her bag on the ground and climb on the rail.

"Watch out for Nurse Ratched." Scott quipped.

"I doubt it." Dana smirked. "Dr Schrapel consults in the juvi wards. Can't have a nurse Ratched around all the younger ones, can you?"

With a strum of his guitar, Scott flicked his feet and bounced off the rail. Dana went to follow him.

"I guess not. But, I mean, you'd have to be pretty tough to work in a nut house. They can go boontah any random time-."

"Boontah?" Dana interrupted.

"Flip out, spazz, freak..."

"I figured, but boontah?"

"Pen pal. My aussie one."

Scott frequently wrote to numerous pen pals across several different countries, meaning Dana was often offered random cultural facts. She wasn't sure how he managed; she spent many frustrating hours trying to express herself to her personal diary, as part of her counselling sessions... one page at a time. They carried on down the path and onto the sidewalk.

"Whatever you say... _mate_." She mocked into his ear.

"Pfft. Not ever close Dana." He laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pushing into her, swaying them jovially from side to side as they walked home.

Dana walked alongside Dr Schrapel down the long, sterile white corridors towards the main offices. They chatted quietly about the some of the conditions of the institutions more interesting patients and the new treatments being developed for their diseases. For scully, the medical mumbo jumbo was a fascinating and enticing new language she was itching to learn.

"I need to stop by nurse Hedley's ward; there is a patient there I've been working with and we've changed her medication. The signs are positive." She smiled. They came to a stop in the hallway near one of the glass doors that led outside.

"I might go outside. I wanted to meet some of the patients; there were some out there before the rain hit this morning." Scully suggested, taking a glance over her shoulder to the muggy outdoors.

"Feel free to wander around Dana, but do remember some of these patients are dealing with aggression issues and don't be surprised when you meet some inconsistent personalities."

"I'll be careful. Promise." She held up a hand in earnest.

"Alright." Dr schrapel about turned and continued down the hall.

Scully placed a warm hand on the icy glass and paused to watch the condensation print form. She could site of a patient wandering across the grass outside. Her eyes took a moment to focus from her hand to the patient, and by the time the distant world came into focus, the patient had continued away. She loathed the idea of wearing glasses for her short-sightedness but managed to avoid the topic with her parents until they almost forgot the matter. They began to notice her time delay when she read something in the distance and eventually bought her a pair of glasses that she took everywhere but hardly ever wore. She pulled the spectacle from her pocket and put them on; the world suddenly came into clear view.

Scully pushed on the glass door. It didn't budge; she looked down and saw the 'pull' sticker near the handle. Mental slap for that one. It was cold outside, well to her it was, she was rather petite and tended to feel the cold more. Everything outside was wet and she couldn't find the sun in the patchy cloud cover, which was a shining grey and cast no shadows. He was the only one in the yard and she stood and watched him sleepwalk to the bench. She looked up and saw the clouds dissipate and the sun shone though with a blinding intensity. After a moment she looked back at the man who was lean backwards to lie down along the length of the bench.

With a tilt of her head and the thrust of her cooling fingers into her pockets, she wandered over to the end of the bench where the young man lay. As she approached him she began to notice how young he was; probably only a few years older than she was, about 18, maybe 19. The features of his face became more prominent with every step.

His long hair was dark and amazingly untamed; he was very skinny beyond the average teenage boy going through a growth spurt with his clothes basically hung off his body. His face looked very tired, black rings surrounded his closed eyes and skin looked lifeless and dehydrated. Lying there on the bench he seemed to be trying to have a well deserved rest. She stood at the end of the bench where his head lay and leaned in ever so slightly to look down upon his upside down face.

The boy frowned though his closed eyes and opened them hesitantly. His eyes opened very widely and she realised that standing over top of him like this might startle him. She took a step backwards. The boy rolled his head back to follow her with his eyes and sat up on the bench when she moved back beyond his vision.

They stared at one another for a little more than a moment until everything around them was still and silent. The boy slid backwards on the bench, opening up a vacant space for her to sit on.

"Hello" he whispered. She decided to sit down.

"Hi." She had no idea what to say.

The boy looked intently at her face. He squinted at her as if looking at something of greater was ice cold; detail than she imagined her own features to be. The bench beneath her was ice cold; she wondered if he felt it. Of course he would have, but then she wondered if it mattered to him.

"You're a nurse... Dana?" he asked her, looking at the nametag hanging below her collar. His voice was a little raspy initially, like he was recovering from a cold or had lost his voice. His expression was a mixture of curiosity, suspicion and awe; she couldn't place it.

"No. Not exactly. I want to be a doctor." She replied. He blinked a few times, which was the extent of his response.

"What kind?" he stated indirectly. His voice carried through and right past her like he wasn't speaking to her.

"I don't know." She was the first to break eye contact since she sat down, looking at their glistening surroundings. "Maybe a paediatrician or something like that."

"hm." He jutted his jaw to one side. He sat silently staring into her eyes unromantically. He was nearly squinting at her. She felt like some sort of exotic insect under a microscope. After a moment she grew uncomfortable and chose to be blunt.

"Is there something on my face you find particularly interesting?"

He drew back abruptly looking somewhat embarrassed. To her relief he looked away, electing to cast his gaze downwards to the ground. He scoffed and half smiled.

"Sorry... I just, um..." he frowned in mild anguish and looked over his shoulder. "There's this thing in your eyes that seriously reminds me of someone."

"It's okay to tell me about it, if you want to."

He toyed with the concept. He ignored the doctors when they tried to drag answers from him. They were not the people he wanted to talk to.

"I lost someone a long time ago. I don't think about it, or at least I try not to. Can't help it at night though."

"Is that why you can't sleep?"

"It's the reason _I don't_ sleep."

Scully nodded. He shrugged it off.

"Nothing weird or anything, but when I actually looked into your eyes, and all I could think about was her" he silenced himself and looked down, "it wasn't horrible or anything."

"I don't think there's anything normal about horror." She offered.

"Dana!" a familiar voice called across the yard to her. They both turned and looked over their shoulders towards Dr Schrapel, who stood in the glass doorway. Dana turned back to her companion.

"It was nice to meet you _Dana_." The boy said.

"You too." She held out a hand to shake it. He accepted it with his icy cold fingers. With a polite smile she stood and left him on the bench.

_10:03_

_Saturday morning_

The lanky boy sat on the backrest of the gray bench outside, his elbows comfortably resting on his knee and a half smile painted on his face. It was a beautiful day, the sun was so bright and warm; it was incredible.

Doctor Lambert, a man in his early forties with greying hair and a snow white moustache approached him and stood in from of the perched boy.

"Good morning Mulder. Did you forget about our session this morning?"

Mulder shook his head with a bemused smirk.

"Nope."

"Well, I suppose it's not the most stimulating way to spend a Saturday morning..." he began cautiously. Eye a brief raise of his eyebrows, Dr Lambert sat on the bench next to Mulder's feet. "Good to see you so animated today. Must be the weather hey?" he joked.

"You know what doc?"

Lambert's curiosity suddenly peaked. He was very serious about his observation. It was a weekly battle to get one word out of fox Mulder, and today he spoke so freely.

"What is it?"

Mulder thought for a moment and then:

"I think I'm ready to go home. I can't function unless I move on from this pit."

"Can I ask what caused this revelation?"

"Aw, nothing really. I guess, a brief moment of clarity found me." He grinned at the somewhat shocked psychologist.

"must have been a hell of a moment."

**A bit long, but I couldn't exactly split it.**


End file.
